The news: Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) have introduced a bill, The End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act, that would prohibit D2C prescription drug advertising on television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media. Our take: Despite disdain for drug commercials among consumers and lawmakers, pharma marketers shouldn’t sound the alarm just yet.
The data: Healthcare providers are struggling to get patients to use digital tools for scheduling appointments and paying for care, according to a recent Experian Health report. Our take: Clinic staff should gauge patients’ comfort level with using specific online tools at the first visit. These queries could give marketers the necessary information to remind people of the tech that’s available to them for accessing and managing their care. Further education around understanding medical bills and the importance of filling out pre-visit forms could drive patients to use a provider’s portal for these purposes.
The news: Novo Nordisk is partnering with AI drug discovery company Deep Apple Therapeutics to discover and develop new cardiometabolic drugs, including for obesity. The takeaway: Novo is not the biggest loser in the GLP-1 weight loss category, but it’s trailing Lilly in drug effectiveness, market value, and more importantly public perception. It’s critical for Novo to come up with new and better weight loss drugs—hence the deal with Deep Apple—but also polish its brand with consumers. A new CEO and new marketing direction could garner Novo some much-needed cachet.
The trend: Gen Z is turning to social media for job and career guidance in the UK, but typical pharma company content isn’t engaging them. The takeaway: Pharma and biotech companies need to embrace social media as serious recruiting channels to connect with Gen Z, and create unpolished, everyday snapshot-type videos with real employees. Social teams should track video trends on TikTok like “day in the life” or “put a finger down” and enlist employees to replicate them.
The news: Eli Lilly said it won’t partner with telehealth companies that sell compounded weight loss drugs. Our take: Lilly’s demand may signal that it’s in a better position in the weight loss drug market than Novo to play hardball with industry partners such as Hims & Hers.
The news: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the CDC’s influential vaccine advisory board with 8 new members, including some anti-vaccine advocates. Our take: The new HHS administration's public statements and actions undermine the safety perception of all vaccines. Drugmakers on the sidelines risk consumer trust—and vaccine uptake. It’s time to partner with respected medical groups like AMA to counterbalance confusion.
The news: BioNTech is buying cancer vaccine researcher and one-time COVID-19 vaccine rival CureVac in a $1.25 billion all-stock deal. The takeaway: The new HHS is taking a less-than-positive view on mainstream vaccines and mRNA technology, but it’s also signaled strong interest in personalized medicines and novel therapies. That’s good news for BioNTech, and could be a sign to other pharmas and biotechs that precision and specialty drugs are poised for fast tracking, while vaccines caught up in public and political controversy will be overscrutinized and delayed to market.
The data: Physicians are more bullish on AI in healthcare than patients. Our take: Doctors are still figuring out AI themselves—but they can’t lose sight of how important it is to keep patients informed. They’ll need to get patient consent for use cases such as transcribing visits, and should opt out of using AI if their patients aren’t comfortable with it.
The news: GoodRx is rolling out a subscription service for erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment. Our take: GoodRx is in a great position to compete with the top D2C telehealth players since consumers are already on the site or app searching for prescription drug discounts—it has over 6 million active monthly consumers who use a coupon code. GoodRx might also be more trusted than pure-play telehealth companies in the eyes of consumers since its services help people save money on their healthcare.
The news: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of an advisory panel that makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC. Our take: Eroding trust in public health entities could create an opportunity for the private sector to fill the void. This may include physician-led associations such as the AMA, individual doctors and pharmacists, and even drugmakers to collaborate on disseminating evidence-based information around vaccines to the public.
The news: TikTok tweens and teens who make popular “Get ready with me” skincare routine videos may be harming their skin. The takeaway: Amid the closer social media scrutiny, skincare health brands should be clear about products that are not made for young skin. Social media teams need to be aware and proactive when interacting with tween and teen content creators.
The news: Avidity Biosciences struck a deal with the FDA for accelerated approval of a treatment for a rare type of muscular dystrophy. Our take: The Avidity announcement and federal health agency enthusiasm are positive signs for biotech and pharma companies looking for accelerated approval for rare disease candidates. Federal authorities and drugmakers will need to balance speed-to-market with rigorous science to ensure physician and consumer confidence.
The insight: Growing GLP-1 usage could reduce McDonald’s annual sales by as much as $428 million, or 1% of system sales, according to an analysis by researchers at Redburn Atlantic. The impact could widen to 10% or more “over time,” the analysts wrote, for brands like McDonald’s that are “skewed toward lower-income consumers or group occasions.” Our take: GLP-1s are just one of the many factors influencing what consumers eat. With economic uncertainty looming large, financial concerns are the biggest consideration for the majority of consumers—which is why households are choosing to eat at home more often and increasingly opting for private labels at the grocery store.
The news: Digital health startup Virta Health is guaranteeing that its employer and health plan customers won’t increase spending on GLP-1 drugs for their members. Our take: Virta’s financial guarantee will likely catch the attention of employers and insurers, but it could quickly backfire from a financial perspective if it’s unable to curb GLP-1 prescription volume.
The trend: Consumers who take weight loss drugs are eating less and consuming healthier foods when they’re on the medication. Our take: This behavior change is driving a slew of food sellers and CPG brands to develop product lines and reformulate items with GLP-1 users in mind.
The news: US pharma imports returned to normal in April after a March stockpiling of drugs and medical products spurred by tariff threats from the Trump administration. The takeaway: Fluctuating tariff threats from the Trump administration means ongoing uncertainty for drugmakers. If the indecision lags for more than a few months, expect some pharma product stockpiling to return.
The trend: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lagged on delivering clear and coordinated messaging in recent weeks, creating confusion among consumers, physicians, and drugmakers. Our take: Inconsistency in messaging could result in patients, doctors, and healthcare entities not knowing where to turn for guidance and recommendations. Pharma companies should consider boosting consumer health messaging and offer healthcare providers’ science-based materials.
The trend: From insight generation and content creation to media placement and regulatory reviews, generative AI (genAI) is becoming more connected to every part of pharma marketing. Our take: The tech is helping pharma marketers and ad agencies create more personalized ads and better predict ad performance—but overall, genAI usage is still pretty nascent in the industry.
The news: Moderna has agreed to conduct a true placebo-controlled trial of its new COVID-19 vaccine, according to a post on X this week from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Our take: It’s difficult for vaccine makers to keep up with shifting requirements for getting shots approved, and for which groups of people. Companies may soon have to weigh pouring billions more into vaccine R&D against expanding or growing product offerings to other drug markets.
The news: Medical AI startup OpenEvidence inked a multi-year agreement with JAMA Network that gives the company access to full-text content from the American Medical Association’s 13 medical journals. Our take: OpenEvidence is competing with Wolters Kluwer’s UptoDate medical information tool, which is used by a few million clinicians worldwide and has recently integrated its own AI search capabilities. One big difference between the products is that OpenEvidence is free for doctors and generates revenue through advertising. Meanwhile, UptoDate does not provide advertising opportunities. We think that OpenEvidence’s internal AI prowess could give it the leg up as long as its in-platform advertising doesn’t turn off doctors too much.